The 2004 NHL Entry Draft was a turning point for the Capitals organization. After gaining the first overall pick in the lottery, the Capitals selected franchise winger Alex Ovechkin to build their young team around. But the draft wasn't just top heavy for the Caps, as there are two more players with significant game experience and three beyond that with cups of coffee at the NHL level.
The Capitals had the second highest game-per-pick yield from their 2004 class, at 59 games.
The Capitals have a bit of everything in their organization: a couple of second-generation players, a couple of potentially elite goaltenders, a couple of NHL-ready players (including one who is already keying a playoff run), and -- most importantly -- a whole lot of talent.
While the prospects may be heavy on the defensive side, there's a school of thought that you can never have too much defense -- especially when used as bargaining chips. The greatest problems that the Caps are going to have is finding a place to put all these players next season.
Top 20 at a glance
1. Karl Alzner, D
2. Simeon Varlamov, G
3. John Carlson, D
4. Anton Gustafsson, C
5. Oskar Osala, LW
6. Michal Neuvirth, G
7. Chris Bourque, C
8. Francois Bouchard, RW
9. Mathieu Perreault, C
10. Dmitri Kugryshev, RW
11. Joe Finley, D
12. Keith Seabrook, D
13. Sami Lepisto, D
14. Joel Broda, C
15. Andrew Gordon, RW
16. Stefan Della Rovere, LW
17. Justin Taylor, C
18. Eric Mestery, D
19. Braden Holtby, G
20. Josh Godfrey, D
Capitals forward Chris Bourque has been reassigned to Hershey and is in the lineup against Norfolk. Bourque has seven shots on goal and is -1 in four games played this year (Capitals are 2-1-1 in those games).
